The very last cell contains what appears to be a somewhat anthropomorphized cat, about two feet tall. 

"Whoa, people! Hey, can you get me outta here? There should be a key in the guard's cabinet on the wall over there," they exclaim excitedly as Akira approaches.

There might as well be an anthropomorphic talking cat. Sure. That is just how her day is going. 

She grabs the key from the cabinet and makes to unlock the door. Any enemy of Kamoshida's is a friend of hers.

"Woo! Thank you! Name's Morgana," they say, "and despite how riled up you've got the guards, I think I know a way out of here. C'mon!"

And they start hurrying back down the corridor toward the larger hallway.

"What about the students?" Akira follows after Morgana, key still in hand.

Morgana looks confused for a moment. "The stud— oh! Those aren't real people. They're cognitions, illusion-people made from Kamoshida's beliefs about their counterparts in the real world."

"So we are in Kamoshida's sick power fantasy right now. How the hell is that a thing that can happen?"

Akira stops next to Ann and Ryuji and ducks into the shadows by them. "Found some help," she says. "This is Morgana. They say the other students are fake."

Ann frowns. "Fake? Fake how?"

"Sick power fantasy is about right," they reply with a nod. "I was investigating this Palace when I got caught. You three are the first real people I've seen the entire time I've been here. Everyone else is either a shadow, like the guards, or a cognition, like the prisoners."

"Slow down, I've got no idea what you're talking about." 

She looks over at Ryuji, judging again how he's managing. 

"We don't have a lot of time for this, but okay, I'll try to explain it better. We're in the Metaverse, a world made of people's cognitions and beliefs and desires. This castle is a Palace, a pocket in the Metaverse that forms when someone's desires get really distorted and awful and hurtful. It's run by the cognitive shadow of the person who formed it, patrolled by shadows copied from the collective unconscious, and populated with cognitions — mental image counterparts of people the Ruler either knows or knows of from the outside world, shaped by the Ruler's beliefs about them."

Ryuji is steadying a bit, standing more on his own feet. He straightens and looks at Morgana. 

"Whoa! Did I get hit on the head during the fight, or is that a talking cat?"

"Hey! I'm not a cat! This is just what I look like, okay?"

"Okay, yeah, that just raises more questions. We'll talk later. Right now, escape. Morgana, you said you had a way out?"

They nod and dash down the hall, running from crate to nook to crate to keep out of sight. Down a different corridor, and then down another, and then across a bridge over an underground canal, before they finally reach a stairwell. "Okay, this should lead up to the ground floor, and then we'll have to be extra sneaky to make it to the exit."

"Alright. Let's go."

Akira readies her sword and follows Morgana, keeping to the shadows.

Ann takes a huffing breath and nods. She's got this.

Ryuji grits his teeth through the lingering fatigue and nods as well. 

Up they go, carefully creeping from shadow to shadow. Luckily, the way out is very close once they're out of the stairs. Unluckily, the guards are very close by. The teens and Morgana have to wait several minutes, hiding behind crates suspensefully.

"What's so special about these kids the king wants captured, anyway?"

"Dunno, but I hope they put up a fight."

"Not as much of a fight as the guards in the receiving room got, I hope."

The second guard shrugs. "They couldn't handle it."

Akira stays low and out of sight as well. Her heart pounds in her chest. It's a thrill to be so close and yet unseen.

The exit is so close and yet so far away.

She really hopes they don't have to fight again. With Ryuji exhausted she doesn't like their chances.

Eventually the guards disperse and stomp away onto their respective patrols. The coast is clear, for now.

Morgana carefully leads them along, darting from cover to cover along the wall, until they creep up to a door. Peeking through it, they see a small room, with a shadow patrolling it. They haven't been seen yet, but it's only a matter of time.

They gesture to the teens to follow them, and carefully creep through the door. 

The guard is currently inspecting the shelves that line the far wall.

Ann quietly gets the door behind the group.